Instead of seceding from Essex County, why not just get rid of it? If you like that idea, you ought to go to Cedar Grove tonight, where Massachusetts state senator Richard T. Moore will speak about his state's experience getting rid of county government. (They even got rid of one called Essex County!)

Co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Change County Government Steering Committee. Cedar Grove Municipal Building, 525 Route 23 (Pompton Turnpike), from 7:30 to 9 pm. (Wed. November 30).

Reader Dory Swenson tips us that an ad in Absolut Vodka's "Win a Trip to Sweden" contest is actually a house on Clinton Street in Montclair. You thought the greeting "Merry Christmas" was controversial? Wait til the local teetotalers get wind of this. (Just kidding. Here's the one we don't think would fly in the tonier parts of Baristaville.) To support local vodka bottle decor, go to Absolut's website (you're supposed to be 21 to get in) and vote for the ad that says Absolut Welcome.

The Chanukah tree, Christmas bush holiday tree lighting in Montclair takes place this Friday, at 6 pm, at the corner of Church Street and Bloomfield Ave. Come see Santa and hear holiday music performed by the Montclair Community Band. Church Street gets closed to cars starting at 5 pm.

The Glen Ridge tree lighting and sing-along is Sunday Dec. 4 at 4:30 pm. Bloomfield's holiday tree lighting will be Monday Dec. 5 in front of town hall at 7 pm. The big one at Rockefeller Center is, of course, tonight.

Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. will announce of a $1 million project to improve the drainage and add irrigation to the meadow in Essex County’s Brookdale Park tomorrow and, the news advisory says, the event will take place "RAIN or SHINE." Given a decent chance for showers or thunderstorms tomorrow, we'll see if the county exec and his umbrella holders will be put to the test. We're not planning to stand out in the rain just to see someone hand over a big fake check, but we do have to admit that if it does rain, it will be a nice illustration of the park's drainage issues. Noon Wednesday next to the Brookdale Park field house near the lower parking lot. Soccer moms, go and root for the field.

Despite talk on NJ.com's Bloomfield message board about the White Circle closing, the fine Bloomfield Ave. eating establishment dive seemed alive and well when we visited yesterday and nobody had heard a hint that it was supposed to close. The decor, grease, counterman and customers all appear unchanged from the Truman administration.

The birds at the Watchung Plaza post office in Montclair are back on the counter after a short banishment due to a customer's complaint. Apparently a customer came in recently, got irate about something (unrelated to the birds) and then stormed out threatening to call the post master and get the birds removed. They were in deed removed, but have now been "saved" by public outcry. A regular customer started up a petition to get the birds back and got over 300 signatures on it and the Montclair Times got involved and is going to do a story as well. The manager at the Watchung branch decided that was enough to allow the birds back. I got the story today from Alan, the clerk there.

Baristaville blogger Daniella Moiseyev Cunniffe returned to her native New Orleans for Thanksgiving and blogs about it here. Her pictures alone, including ones of the abandoned refrigerators we heard about on NPR, are worth the price of admission. But the word pictures are even sadder.

The airport, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving, was eerily empty and quiet. When I looked up at the arrival list on the monitors, there were only five flights listed for the whole day. I had to bite back tears.

There are signs everywhere for everything. Drywall removal. House gutting. Roof repair. Mold removal. Lawyers. Lawyers and more lawyers. They probably have the most signs up of anyone. It looks like some sort of horrid political campaign on steroids.

So many houses have for sale signs out and most have a banner that says "reduced price." The real estate boom that many forecasted would occur in the non-flooded neighborhoods has failed to materialize. Many people are commuting to Houston or to Baton Rouge. Everyone is so friendly but lost. They have sad eyes. My friend Jane says everyone's on something now. Prozac. Zoloft. Xanax. People who wouldn't even take an aspirin are heavily medicated to deal with daily life.